Venezuelan oil production fell 7.6% in March

Venezuelan oil production fell by 7.6% in March compared to February's output, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The international organization assures that in March, the country produced 728,000 barrels per day, which means a decrease of 60,000 barrels per day compared to February, when 788,000 barrels per day were produced, according to El Nacional.

The figure indicates that oil production closed the first quarter of 2022 at 756,000 barrels per day, representing a 7% drop compared to the fourth quarter of last year, when 817,000 barrels per day were produced.

Although the official report showed these figures, sources secondary to OPEC quoted by Infobae indicate that Venezuela produced 697,000 barrels per day in March, representing a growth of 1.1% compared to February. According to these sources, 689,000 barrels per day were produced.

President Nicolás Maduro claimed in March that the country would produce two million barrels per day by the end of 2022.

"This year we are going to reach 2 million barrels per day, regardless of whether it rains or shines. This year we will recover oil production hand in hand with the working class," said Maduro in a speech broadcast by the state-owned Venezuelan Television Channel (VTV).

Daniel_RiosVE: #Maduro: "este año vamos a 2 millones de barriles diarios, llueve, truene o relampaguee".

A Maduro se le ve muy contento porque está repuntando el precio del petróleo. Otra vez el #chavismo a robar...#DanielRios pic.twitter.com/9l9akcWgB4 #Valencia #Carabobo #Ven…

— Noticias 0241 (@Noticias0241) March 9, 2022

Maduro continues to push for increasing oil production amid an energy crisis generated by the invasion of Russia as the world's second-largest oil producer and after an unexpected visit of the U.S. government to Venezuela.

"According to OPEC, with figures from PDVSA, Venezuela produced 728,000 barrels of oil per day in March 2022, almost 100,000 barrels less than in December 2021. And so they say they are going to produce 2,000,000 barrels per day this year", wrote economist and former congressman José Guerra on Twitter.

Segun la Opep con cifras de Pdvsa, Venezuela produjo 728.000 barriles diarios de petróleo en marzo 2022 casi 100.000 barriles menos que en diciembre de 2021. Y si dicen que van a producir 2.000.000 barriles diarios este año. Según fuentes secundarias la producción fue 697.000 b/d pic.twitter.com/jC8xHaXqUJ

— Jose Guerra (@JoseAGuerra) April 12, 2022

The United States claimed in mid-March that "for now" it will not implement any plan to import Venezuelan oil, confirming that it had spoken with Colombia to increase its global crude oil supply.

"It's not something we're actively talking about right now," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said after being asked if the possibility of the United States relaxing its oil sanctions on Venezuela in order to import more crude from that country is off the table.